AUGUSTA — As Kelley Cullenberg watched the field of runners muddle through the course Saturday, it dawned on her that some of her runners were missing.

Staked out at the first mile mark of the course, the Mt. Blue coach was watching intently for her athletes to run by, but when she didn’t spot a couple, it prompted a little worry and a slight case of panic.

“I was really afraid,” said Cullenberg. “The guy that finished second for me (Brody Hines) and the guy that finished fifth for me (Sully Jackson), I didn’t even see them at the mile.”

When Cullenberg checked in with her assistant coach, she discovered the welcome answer to the problem. Her athletes were simply running too fast, putting them in places she didn’t expect.

“It was because he was so close to the fourth-place guy,” said Cullenberg of Jackson.

It ultimately proved to be a good predicament to have for the Cougars. Mt. Blue placed five runners in the top 18 and claimed second place with 75 points in the KVAC Cross Country Championship Saturday at Cony High School.

Mt. Ararat claimed the top spot in the boys’ A meet with 56 points. After Mt. Blue, Edward Little took third with 75 followed by Lewiston with 109.

Cullenberg said she had hoped her team could rise to the challenge of taking second ahead of the Red Eddies, the defending KVAC champs, but knew it was going to take a significant effort from her team in challenging conditions.

“We’ve been talking all week about what these guys need to do to beat a team like Edward Little,” said Cullenberg. “It’s whoever shows up that particular day.”

Harlow Ladd won the race for Messalonskee, finishing in 17:14.0. EL’s Faisal Noor was second in 17:39.6. After Mt. Ararat’s Andy Reifman-Packett took third, Lewiston’s Hussein Ibrahim was fourth. EL took fifth with Hussein Mohamed.

Mt. Blue’s top runner was Jaron Jones, a senior, in ninth. Hines, a senior, finished right behind him in 12th while junior Jonah Jones was 14th. The sophomore duo of Justin Tracy and Jackson took 17th and 18th respectively. Junior Alex Chandler finished 26th for the Cougars.

“We’ve been getting a lot out of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh guys,” said Cullenberg. “We talked this week that everybody needed to step it up.”

The course was wet and muddy. Runners had a hard time with traction and a little wind and cold didn’t make it any easier. For a team like Edward Little, which has been battling illness, the conditions weren’t conducive to a good day.

“We had hoped to do a little better than we did but it still wasn’t a bad performance,” said EL coach Ralph Fletcher. “We had a couple of kids that have been sick the last week or two. Plus we’ve been working pretty hard pointing to the next couple weeks. This was a test but not the real test.”

Noor said he had a hard time despite finishing second overall.

“I feel like I could have picked it up, but I just didn’t have it,” said Noor, a senior.

He had assumed they’d be running at the course at the University of Maine-Augusta where they were last year. So when the team arrived at Cony, he had to wrap his mind around a different challenge.

“It was a rough course,” he said. “I didn’t like it. It was cold and the course was sloppy. We had the long hill with rocks. I had long spikes. So every time I stepped, I was slipping back further.”

EL’s Justin Leclair was 16th while Lucas Bourget was 19th.

Lewiston’s Kevin Lavertu took 11th while Tanner Adams was 22nd. Oxford Hills’ top finisher was Jesse Newcomb in 38th.

In the girls’ meet, Mt. Ararat repeated as conference champion with 27 points. Brunswick with second with 75 followed by Mt. Blue with 102.

Brunswick’s Kathleen McMahon won the race in 19:55.9 followed by a trio of Mt. Ararat runners, Emma Wood, Kate Spies and Emilia McGrath. Brunswick’s Teresa Murphy took fifth.

Mt.Blue got a sixth-place finish by senior Gwen Beacham. She finished in 21:28.7.

“I was about where I thought,” said Beacham. “I was aiming for second, but I knew that’s a long stretch. I knew if I was like seventh, that would be good, and I was sixth. So that was pretty good.”

Addie Cullenberg was 14th for Mt. Blue while Louisa Stancioff was 21st and Amy Hilton 27th.

Having run the course before, Beacham said, made it a little easier to navigate despite the conditions created by Friday’s rainfall. She knew where the hills were and that taking advantage of speed coming downhill would help her on the next incline.

“It was hard, but we’d run it before,” she said. “So I knew what to expect as far as the hills. The mud just added a whole other layer to it.”

Edward Little’s top finisher was Abby Hart in 11th while Audrey Bennett was 16th. Lewiston’s top runner was Nicole Court-Menendez in 19th while Faith Shaw was 26th. Oxford Hills top finish came from India Lucas in 31st.

“The girls did great and finished better than we had thought they would,” said Fletcher.

In the KVAC B boys’ meet, Hampden won with 42 points followed by Winslow with 60 and Maranacook with 66.

Erskine’s Eben Hodgkins won the race followed by Hampden’s Evan Piccirillo and Waterville’s Jeff Hale. Leavitt’s top runner was Keith Lemelin in 24th.

In the girls’ meet, Hampden claimed the top spot with 61 points followed by Winslow with 77. Medomak Valley was third with 87. Leavitt finished sixth with 158.

Camden’s Brittany Bowman, a freshman, won the race ahead of a trio of sophomores. Molly Schassberger from Winslow was second. Hampden’s Kylee Parker took third, followed by Maranacook’s Caroline Colan.

Leavitt’s Lucy Knowlton was eight while Maddie Wiegman was 11th.

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